The third and final part of our mystical primer with the Skeptical Mystic concludes today. Steven Jones and I talk about Benedict of Nursia & lectio divina, Catherine of Siena & erotic spirituality, and Hildegard of Bingen & the greening of all things. Subscribe to Steven's YouTube channel for more…
We return to what will now be a three part series to extend just beyond Advent with the Skeptical Mystic, Steven Jones! In this episode, we discuss St. John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, the crazy performance artist Ezekiel, and I even sneak in a bit our…
This one has expletives, folks. | | | | | | V My guests this week are Jason Chesnut and Tuhina Rasche, the co-collaborators behind #FuckThisShit, and Advent Devotional (PG Version: #RendtheHeavens). We discuss why they use such frank language for cathartic release during Advent, why they feel such a…
In Part 1 of a 2-part series, Steven Jones and I discuss the variety of mystical traditions! (Expanded show notes will be posted later in the week.) Follow Steven on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYtS0smP4jSHKjlcvRMW7Ag Follow Steven on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Skeptical\_Monk Follow Blake on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brchastain Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram…
This week's guest is Mike McHargue, aka Science Mike, author of the book Finding God in the Waves: How I Lost My Faith and Found It Again Through Science. Mike is also a podcaster on well-known podcasts The Liturgists and Ask Science Mike. Buy Science Mike's book: http://amzn.to/2fDsDPz Follow Science…
Get ready for some potentially awkward Thanksgiving conversations with this re-release of my conversation with Greg Coates. Buy Greg's book, Politics Strangely Warmed: Political Theology in the Wesleyan Spirit: http://amzn.to/2gCiqsq Sign up for Exvangelical Reader: http://eepurl.com/cpzXOD Follow Blake on Twitter: twitter.com/brchastain Follow the show on Twitter: twitter.com/exvangelicalpod Follow the show…
No guest this week. It's been a few days since the election. These are some of my thoughts on it, as well as some stories from my youth. Discuss this show with the hashtag #byourlove. "The Real Origins of the Religious Right," by Randall Balmer: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133?o=1 - Follow me on…
This week's episode features a conversation with Dr. Chris Stroop. Chris is an historian and a Provosts's Postdoctoral Scholar in the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of South Florida, and the co-editor of the upcoming anthology By the Rivers of Babylon. We discuss his experience with K-12 Christian…
This week's episode features a conversation with Dr. Keisha McKenzie, aka @mackenzian on Twitter. She shares her story of growing up in the UK, attending school in Jamaica, as well as her time living in the US, all while engaging her Adventist faith and finding communities that helped her continue…
This week’s guest is the anonymous blogger Heretic Husband. He tells his story, which begins in Catholicism and continues through evangelicalism and agnosticism. This story does include a discussion of spiritual and sexual abuse, so if that is triggering please bear that in mind. Also there is one F bomb.…
Today’s guest is Kevin Garcia, a writer, podcaster, and all around thoughtful guy. It’s hard to summarize Kevin’s story. Ultimately it’s s story of self acceptance and finding God’s love, but it took time to get there. It’s very moving, but it’s best told in his own words. A couple…
This week’s episode features a conversation with Nathan Cleveland. We discuss his evangelical childhood, our time at the Mystery College, the mystery and power of the Eucharist, the limitations of certainty, and perhaps most importantly, he and I relish in the proper pronunciation of the word ‘evangelical.’ This talk features…
This week's episode features a conversation with Emily Joy & Hannah Paasch from The Flawless Project. They discuss the impact their experiences with purity culture and sexism has had on their lives. The Flawless Project: theflawlessproject.org Emily Joy Poetry: emilyjoypoetry.com Ida Grey: idagrey.weebly.com Follow Emily Joy on Twitter @emilyjoypoetry Follow…
This week's episode includes a wonderful conversation with Ryan Johnson, a friend from college. We met up in Chicago to talk about his upbringing, our shared experience in the social sciences department at the Mystery College, and the fraught marriage of evangelicalism and Republican politics in the United States. Follow…
Shorter show notes for this one, everybody. Kyle Parton, Director of Epiphany Publishing, talks with me about teenage adventures in Wal-Mart evangelism, key markers of evangelicalism, war, other faith traditions, and alternate models of salvation (the more serious show title was "Finding a Substitute for Penal Substitution"). Check out Epiphany…
In this week's episode, I talk to Brandon Whitmore about his journey from Christianity to agnosticism. The conversation covers all sorts of topics, from the historical record of Jesus & science's relationship w/ religion to a qualitative ranking of The Muppets television shows. It's great. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain.…
This episode features a conversation with Rev. Kevin Wright from the Riverside Church in NYC. We talk about his journey, LGBTQ affirmation, and more. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. Follow the show on Twitter @exvangelicalpod Like the show on Facebook at facebook.com/exvangelicalpod Follow Rev. Kevin Wright on Twitter @kevinkwright. Read…
On this week's episode, I talk to Sean Reed, a friend of mine from high school. We talk about youth group, working in Christian bookstores, Christian music festivals, 90s Christian rock, and more. It's a fun conversation. Join the conversation on Twitter and share your CCM nostalgia by using the…
Today's episode features a conversation with Nate Crawford, director of Here/Hear, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on mental health. Nate shares his story, including his experience with bipolar disorder. Trigger warning: this episode contains frank discussions of mental health issues, so if that is triggering, please keep that in mind.…
This week, we feature a conversation with author, religious scholar and PhD candidate Greg Coates. We discuss his evangelical youth, his time in China, his book, and of course, Donald Trump. Follow Exvangelical on Twitter @exvangelicalpod. Like us on Facebook facebook.com/exvangelicalpod. Follow Blake on Twitter @brchastain. Show Notes: Greg's book,…
Hey there - this is just a quick note that we'll be moving new episodes to Mondays. The next full episode hits Monday, 8/8/16. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) Support our show by becoming a…
In Episode 2 of Exvangelical, I speak to Steven Jones. Steven Jones shares his story of growing up within evangelicalism and attending Christian college, facing family struggles, and--at the risk of being too reductive--losing and finding belief. He also shares about his engagement with the mystical tradition, including a series…
This first episode of Exvangelical features a long, free-form with American religious historian Dr. Jonathan Dodrill, who is a longtime friend of mine. We discuss how we met at Christian college, our experiences there, as well as how our viewpoints have changed since then. We also spend a good amount…
Introducing Exvangelical: a podcast exploring the world inside and outside of American evangelicalism. This episode explains the purpose behind this project. Give it a listen. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exvangelical/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices (https://megaphone.fm/adchoices) Support our show by becoming…